Conference on the future of Europe: 300 citizen proposals, what’s next?

This Conference on the future of Europe, sought by the President of France Emmanuel Macron, will be historic from the moment we implement what has been decidedwarned Belgian liberal MEP Guy Verhofstadt, co-president of this conference.

At the conclusion of the seventh and final plenary session of the Conference, on Friday and Saturday in the European Parliament, the elected official saw the approved proposals. a truly promising path forEUEuropean Union. And this despite much skepticism at first.

Disputes and pandemics

Its establishment unprecedented work for our Europegreeted on Friday by French Secretary of State for European Relations Clément Beaune, became more laborious.

First because of the dispute between the three European institutions-Commission, Council (representing the State), Parliament-on the role of each and the follow-up to be provided to the exercise, then the health crisis.

In the autumn alone 800 European citizens began their meditation work, surrounded by elected officials and civil society representatives, fed by several thousand proposals already developed on a multilingual online platform.

Direct subsidies towards organic farming, establish common minimum standards for health care, vote in European elections from the age of 16, or periodically holding citizen gatherings : in the end, 325 proposals were selected stating around 49 objectives.

Democracy in Europe will never be the samesaid Dubravka Suica, Vice-President of the European Commission and Co-President of the Conference.

What will happen to the proposals?

However, the future of these proposals is still uncertain and the ball is already in the court of European institutions, which will receive, along with Emmanuel Macron, the final report of the Conference on May 9, Europe Day, in Strasbourg. .

The European Parliament will inevitably want to take many of these ideas, the Council will probably want to put the brakes on many topics and that also depends on the presidencies Council rounds, which are currently in France until the end of June, are reviewing Éric Maurice, of the Robert Schuman Foundation.

Claiming increased political role, the European Parliament aims to put pressure on Member States and the Commission next week by voting on a call to trigger a procedure for revising European treaties. . A change needed to concretize certain proposals by citizens, such as ending the unanimous decisions of the Twenty -Seven, a regular brake on European action.

This is the next big discussionaccording to Guy Verhofstadt.

European laws should be decided by majorities, not vetosasserted on Twitter German Manfred Weber, leader of the main parliamentary group (EPP, right).

But according to Eric Maurice, the issue of agreements should not be the tree hiding in the forest of all proposals. Because the job is done full of concrete and interesting ideaspart of it is necessary to adjust the feasibility and the acceptable.

We hope that these measures will be followed and our dreams will come true.declared on Saturday on hemicycle Camille Girard, French high school student and youngest citizen participating in the closing plenary of the Conference.

Sign of the difficulties that will come with political change on trial, the eurosceptic group of the European Parliament, ECR, slammed the door of the Conference.

The program to empower Brussels is not supported by the organizers with a biased choice of citizenscriticized on Saturday in a press release the group, which includes MEPs of the conservative nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS) in power in Poland.